Male: Breeding: Upperparts, wing coverts, dark with gold speckling (finer than that of Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)). Throat, breast, belly, undertail coverts, totally black. White line running from forehead, eyebrow, to sides of breast. Underwing lining, pale grey. An indistinct wing bar. When standing wing tips project noticeably beyond tail tip. Bill, black. Legs, grey-black. Non-breeding: Upperparts to tail dull brown, with buff-grey to cream spots. Breast, golden-brown to grey. Eyebrow is distinct. An indistinct wing bar. Underparts, white. Bill, black. Legs, grey-black.
Female: Like male but duller. White specks may be present throughout the underparts.
Juveniles: Upperparts, blackish, with some yellowing on the coverts.
Other Names (World)
American Golden Plover, American Golden-Plover, Golden Plover, Lesser Golden Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Eastern Golden Plover
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada (B) (P), Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, St Lucia, St Pierre and Miquelon (P), St Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uruguay (NB), USA (B), Venezuela, Virgin Islands (British) (NB), Virgin Islands (U.S.) (NB).
Vagrant to Cape Verde, Côte dIvoire, Denmark, Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Russia (Asian), Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Togo, Turkey, United Kingdom.
Unknown to Honduras.
Western Alaska east through northern Canada to Baffin I. Winters in South America south to Tierra del Fuego.
Population
Estimated population is 200,000 (2010).
American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica) [XC628070]
by Sunny Tseng from Valizas- Rocha, Uruguay (call)
American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica) [XC510841]
by GABRIEL LEITE from Trilha do Talha-Mar, PARNA Lagoa do Peixe, Tavares, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (flight call)
Subspecies
Form superspecies with Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva) and was previously considered conspecific.
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Slightly larger. Non-breeding with non-breeding. Upperparts, brownish grey with white tips and edges to feathers. Legs, black. Underwing lining white, with black axillaries.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet